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Re: If Reilly Leaves....

He's still only playing 10 games against Western opponents, just like he always has, except now he has one less Western opponent to worry about and game-plan for.

That's an interesting bit of math that I can't believe I never thought of before. Each team faces Eastern opponents 8 time and Western opponents 10 times regardless of what division they are in.

Makes you really think about when Halifax joins as technically every team would have more games against the other division than their own. All the more reason to just make playoffs simply the best 6 teams.

Re: If Reilly Leaves....

All of this raises the question for me, which I've never really been satisfied with answers... WHY has the west been so dominant, or such a long time scale? I don't want to say that it's because the western provinces support their teams more...that's a bit of a chicken-egg thing. Is there some other reason I'm not thinking of?

Re: If Reilly Leaves....

Originally Posted by glenvb

All of this raises the question for me, which I've never really been satisfied with answers... WHY has the west been so dominant, or such a long time scale? I don't want to say that it's because the western provinces support their teams more...that's a bit of a chicken-egg thing. Is there some other reason I'm not thinking of?

Yeah it is baffling that in a capped league that there hasn't once been a East crossover team, while so many West crossovers. Statistically, yes, it's more probable that the 4th team out of 5 is better than the 3rd out of 4 when compared to the odds that the 4th best out of 4 being better than the 3rd best of 5, but the schedules are all so similar that it should be marginalized somewhat.

Re: If Reilly Leaves....

Originally Posted by glenvb

All of this raises the question for me, which I've never really been satisfied with answers... WHY has the west been so dominant, or such a long time scale? I don't want to say that it's because the western provinces support their teams more...that's a bit of a chicken-egg thing. Is there some other reason I'm not thinking of?

I think that the Eastern teams aren't better simply because they don't have to be. A .500 record pretty much guarantees a playoff spot in the east. Whereas in the west, as we all saw this year, .500 could be out of the playoffs and sub .500 practically guarantees you're out. So you have all the western teams scrappin and clawing for every win knowing they can't afford to lose, while in the east going on a 3 game losing streak is no biggie. This gives the western teams a mental edge during the regular season. During playoffs however, now the eastern teams have that do or die attitude as well, hence why the western dominance seems to disappear during playoffs.

Re: If Reilly Leaves....

Originally Posted by glenvb

All of this raises the question for me, which I've never really been satisfied with answers... WHY has the west been so dominant, or such a long time scale? I don't want to say that it's because the western provinces support their teams more...that's a bit of a chicken-egg thing. Is there some other reason I'm not thinking of?

It's a very interesting question to drill down on.

In the one sense, an easier path to playoff money ($18k per player for getting to the Grey Cup game is nearly 25% of the average CFL salary of around 80k) should be a financial incentive for talent to sign in the East if it's truly deemed a better path to get there.

At the same time, it's been proven out over time that things like stability, facilities, cost of living, tradition and football culture can have some affect on attracting and retaining players... particularly more established players that are choosing where they play as opposed to draft picks, recruits or negotiation list guys.

I would guess that there are potentially more community opportunities to earn (appearance fees, jobs outside of football procured due to football status, etc) in western Canadian cities, but that's only a guess.

With some individual clubs, we see some cycles of up years and down years - the top teams have longer ups and shorter downs obviously, but we don't seem to see nearly the same variance on a divisional basis.

It could make for a heck of a project for someone so inclined to run a series of regression analyses, tweaking the scoring of some of the inputs to see what sort of correlations exist, but it would be difficult to score things like stability of personnel and football culture.

Re: If Reilly Leaves....

Originally Posted by GreatWhiteNorth

It's a very interesting question to drill down on...

...It could make for a heck of a project for someone so inclined to run a series of regression analyses, tweaking the scoring of some of the inputs to see what sort of correlations exist, but it would be difficult to score things like stability of personnel and football culture.

Re: If Reilly Leaves....

Originally Posted by glenvb

All of this raises the question for me, which I've never really been satisfied with answers... WHY has the west been so dominant, or such a long time scale? I don't want to say that it's because the western provinces support their teams more...that's a bit of a chicken-egg thing. Is there some other reason I'm not thinking of?

If I was to hang it on one specific thing it would be that the West has enjoyed far more stability and a higher level of play from QB, the most important position. Seems like the QB position in the East is always in a state of turmoil. Seems like over the last 15 years with the exception of Calvillo the best, most consistent and healthiest quarterbacking has resided west of the Great Lakes. Nobody out east has enjoyed the likes of Reilly or Mitchell for 6 or more years or Durant who was very good for 5 years straight. Burris gave Calgary stability for a decade before short stops in Hamilton and Ottawa. The Esks were well served with Ray, Maas (while Ray was in NFL) and Reilly holding the fort for all but 1 year out of 16 or 17.

Re: If Reilly Leaves....

I'm so over this subject, he did what he did, he was a great player for us, he seems to be a great guy off the field and he's good for the league but it's time to move on. Next time I see Reilly I hope he's chasing down one of our dbs after throwing a pick six.

Re: If Reilly Leaves....

Originally Posted by tigerdar

I'm so over this subject, he did what he did, he was a great player for us, he seems to be a great guy off the field and he's good for the league but it's time to move on. Next time I see Reilly I hope he's chasing down one of our dbs after throwing a pick six.

Totally agree with you. That being said he had some nice things to say about Edmonton which was the main reason I posted the link. I likewise will be hoping for a pick six or even a sack.

ôRUN THE DANG BALL!" -Leigh Anne Tuohy character from the film The Blind Side

"Next time, take a case of Pil into the huddle. If you don't get a beer, get the hell off the field!" -New special teams coach for the Riders

"When the Eskimos are out on defense it looks like there are two or three number 47s out there." -Duane Ford

"...I guess we'll have to agree to disagree, I enjoy the banter though ..." -Looner

Re: If Reilly Leaves....

Totally agree with you. That being said he had some nice things to say about Edmonton which was the main reason I posted the link. I likewise will be hoping for a pick six or even a sack.

oh no no it was a link worthy of being posted not saying it wasn't sorry if it came off that way but I was just saying that as much as I like the guy it's time for us to start thinking about him as the adversary.

Re: If Reilly Leaves....

Originally Posted by tigerdar

I'm so over this subject, he did what he did, he was a great player for us, he seems to be a great guy off the field and he's good for the league but it's time to move on. Next time I see Reilly I hope he's chasing down one of our dbs after throwing a pick six.